We have done a lot the past year or so to reduce lobby traffic. At one point, we were experiencing about 60,000 people a month coming into our lobby. The economy has taken a large toll on our community and we have experienced record caseloads in some of our public assistance programs.

This hit at the same time as large budget reductions from the state, which resulted in the loss of more than 50 percent of our staff. We were forced to learn new ways of doing business so we could meet growing demand with fewer people. We were innovative in coming up with many of our own ideas, and we looked to other successful models to copy.

One change is that we now conduct all recertification interviews by phone. This also applies for recipients applying for an additional category of assistance. They no longer need to come downtown, spend money on gas and parking and wait in a long lines. For more information, click here.

We will continue to look for better ways to serve our community. Customer service is always a top priority.